


Take Your Time

by Trundia



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-05-01 02:23:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5188532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trundia/pseuds/Trundia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron and Robert have a talk after Aaron gets out of prison.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Your Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a quick fic that I wanted to write out before the motivation left and before we had an ~actual reunion between them. Thanks for reading!

It’s in bad taste to have the party in the Woolpack, but Chas wants to throw their victory in Diane and Victoria’s faces. Aaron’s out of prison because of his innocence while their family is in ruins. Chas buys them both a drink with a wink, a _told you so_ sitting on her tongue.

Aaron’s innocent and they can’t say naught because even _Robert_ thinks so.

Aaron’s nursing his pint in the corner while his family cheers and chatters around him. Adam’s sitting with him, giving an update about Johnny, but he can’t focus too much on that. Cain keeps sending him glances as if Aaron’s about to top someone— or himself.

He won’t. Prison had been worse this time than the last— bad enough that he’s going to work his entire life to never end up in court again. Four times is enough for him and his luck will probably run out at some point. But that doesn’t mean that he wants to carry the ghosts of prison into the real world.

He didn’t want a big party. And he certainly doesn’t share the need to gloat about it like his mum. He just wanted to have a drink with his mum and Paddy, but he should’ve known that, with the Dingles, that was too much to ask.

“…if she can’t get used to it, then we’re gonna have to try something else.” Aaron cares about Johnny, he swears that he does, but he’s ready for everyone to leave so that he can get some sleep.

“Listen, I’m gonna get some air.” He doesn’t wait for a response. He’s out the front door in minutes, ignoring the glances he gets on his way out. His mum tries to call after him, but he pretends not to hear it.

The rush of cool air feels good on Aaron’s skin. He leans against the bricks of the pub and closes his eyes. He takes a deep breath, letting his freedom wash over him.

“Hey.” He opens his eyes and Robert is standing in front of him. He looks the same as he did in court last week— a little deflated, a little sad, a little messy. A far cry from the put-together Robert he remembers from The Before.

That’s what he calls it. _The Before._ Before his life turned upside down. Before he hated Robert. Before he was tied to that radiator. Before, when Aaron could close his eyes and think of Robert’s smile and the warmth of his skin and feel safe.

“You might not wanna go in there. Mum’s gloating about all this.” He gestures to the air around them.

“It’s fine. I came to see you, anyway.”

“Probably shouldn’t have done that, either.”

“I wanted to make sure that you’re okay.”

“I am.” He lies. He doesn’t feel any better than he had before he was arrested. He’s only safe in the knowledge that he won’t be arrested again anytime soon.

Robert nods. He’s not okay, either, Aaron can tell. The bullet wound in his chest must hurt a lot, given Robert’s hunched shoulder and slightly pained expression. He leans against the pub next to Aaron, trying to keep himself standing.

They don’t speak. Aaron lets their last encounter play in his mind— when he’d told Robert to drop dead. He doesn’t know if he meant it or not. Aaron feels hatred for Robert like it lives in his stomach, but he loved him nearly the same way.

And despite everything that’s happened, he still feels safer right now, with Robert standing next to him in the cold November air, than he has in a while.

“S’pose I should thank you. For lying to the cops or whatever you did to get me out.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I’m not.” Aaron hears Robert snort.

“I will.” Aaron pushes himself off the wall and looks at Robert. Robert follows him with his eyes. “Thanks for, I don’t know, not shooting me.”

“Any time.” His thoughts flicker to the garage, where there’s a crow bar he picked up with the intention to use. He doesn’t know if he would’ve actually done anything, but knowing that he might’ve keeps him from saying anything more.

“Do you really hate me?”

Aaron shrugs his shoulders. “Honestly, Robert? I don’t know.” He takes a deep breath in.

“Okay, well in that case, if I told you something kind of pathetic, do you promise not to laugh?”

“No.”  

“I’m gonna tell you anyway.” Aaron smiles, trying to keep himself from falling back into Robert’s hands. “You’re my best friend.”

Aaron laughs. He can’t stop himself because Robert is right. That is pathetic. He’d never realized how truly lucky he is that he has people, friends that he can talk to. Adam and Paddy and his mum— he could go to any of them for anything. Since he’s been back at the village, he’s found that he actually has people that care about him.

Robert doesn’t have any friends like that. Sure, there’s Victoria and Diane, but they’d been kept out of Robert’s secrets since he came back. Nobody truly knows Robert like Aaron does.

“Are you done?” Robert asks after Aaron’s calmed down.

“I didn’t promise.” He takes a few more chuckles and then settles himself. He tries to look at Robert— a real true look. There’s something about him that’s different than Before, something softer and warmer and calmer. “I’m sorry for laughing.”

“It’s kind of funny, if you think about it. Serves me right, though, that I don’t have anyone besides you and you want me dead.”

“You have Vic. She’s been hassling everyone like crazy around here since your coma.”

“It’s not the same though, is it? I mean, she doesn’t know about any of the things I’ve done. Well, besides cheating on Chrissie, but she doesn’t really know half of it, does she? You’re the only one who knows literally everything.”

“Yeah, well, I guess I asked for that.”

“Look, I know that I’ve never said it before, but I _am_ sorry. About everything. I wish I could go back and keep myself from doing all of those horrible things to you, but I can’t. I’m just stuck in the _here_ and _now_ and I’d like to make it up to you.” Robert seems sincere, in the way that he always does. Aaron wants to believe him. Part of him knows that Robert Sugden is not the type of person to regret a single thing, but the other part knows that Robert understands how much he’s screwed up in the past year.

“Does that include kissing me?”

“No.” Robert doesn’t even hesitate. “I regret a lot things, like I should, but I don’t regret letting you into my life. I just wish I could take back all the time I spend denying who I was. We could’ve had something. Something _good._ ”

Aaron can’t lie— he’s thought about it, too. If Robert had just told him that he loved him back, if he hadn’t married Chrissie or killed Katie or any of that, if he’d just been honest, then maybe they would’ve lived happily ever after.

Not that people like Aaron and Robert get happily ever afters. But Aaron would settle on ‘happily for now’ if it meant a real relationship with Robert.

“We can’t ever go back to that, Robert.” He takes another deep breath, hoping the cold will calm his nerves. Someone leaves the pub and he can hear the cheering from a darts game as the door swings open and shut. People are missing him inside. He should go back.

“I don’t want to.”

“Then why are we here?”

“Because I think we could be something better.” Robert pushes off the wall of the pub, his face millimeters from Aaron’s. “We could have something real this time.”

“I can’t get back with you. Even if you’re right— there’s too much history.”

“Maybe we could just settle on friends. For now, at least. I don’t really have many of those.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“I think it’s the best idea I’ve had in ages.” He takes a step away from Aaron. “I should let you get back to your party.”

Aaron watches him walk away. His body feels lighter now, like he’s a feather floating on a river bank. He waits until Robert disappears out of sight, then returns to the party.


End file.
